Right time to lift shallots?

[caroline7758]

Several things confusing me:

The leaves have flopped over but not gone entirely yellow- does this mean they are not ready yet?
When I pulled some up, they didn't come easily and left the outer skin behind- does this mean they aren't ready or is it just that they have been stuck to wet soil?
Finally, some had woodlice underneath, in which case should I lift them all anyway to avoid damage?
???

[caroline7758]

[froglets]

Hi Caroline, you canb harvest any time after the leaves have flopped over, ie, when the stem just above the bulb has gone soft.

It's best to lift them with a fork rather than pulling them up as they dry & store better with the roots still attached.

Woodlice eat rotting vegetation, so won't actively damage the shallots, but probably means they're ready to lift  & dry now.

Cheers

[caroline7758]

Thanks, that's really helpful. :D

[weedin project]

We lifted ours a week after we spotted that the ones in the centre of each plant had been pushed out of the ground by the swelling of all the bulbs around them.  It seems to have been OK.

[saddad]

Lifted ours about a week ago, and now the summer onions as parts of the bed were under water!
::)

[ruud]

Shallots and onions are already dried and stored.

[Sparkly]

I picked my shallots about 2 weeks ago

[flowerlady]

Well mine are sooooooooooooooo bad that I'm seriously thinking of recycling them !!  :-\

... and the onions too  :-X

[Robert_Brenchley]

My shallots were virtually nonexistent; I can never grow them successfully (it's the only allium I've found that I can't grow), but this year they've disappeared altogether.

[gruesome]

get them out before bugs n rot sets in. Mine have been up 2 weeks now and have been drying out in spare greenhouse.

[Gail-M]

I've grown shallots before with no problems. This year they are much bigger than usual & the necks seem quite thick. The tops have fallen over ( I think it was the weather ) but still very green.

Do you think they are ready to lift or leave until foliage goes yellow ?

Wondering if the necks are thicker just cause they are much bigger or will they not store well ?

Thanks Gail

[growmore]

If you don't need the space where they are growing, I would leave them till the leaves start turning brown ..  If you want to accelerate this fork em out of ground and leave them where they are .. They should store OK then when lifted ...

[kt.]

I grew shallots for the first time this year. Only planted 12 bulbs. Pickled them last week. Got 1 & 1/2 jars full. They seem OK so will plant loads next time. I have never bothered with them before. I planted them in my son & daughters little section of the allotment. They were so chuffed; another veg has harvested from their section.

[real food]

Have just started harvesting shallots, red onions, garlic, elephant garlic, in Glasgow, and they all seem to be good. Very few onions went to seed this year which is a great bonus.